2003 Argentina (Mendoza) Vintage

The 2003 season ran from spring 2002 through the autumn 2003 harvest. Mendoza had a cold, dry winter with abundant snow in the high mountains, then a cool, sunny, dry spring in which some frosts and days of Zonda wind reduced fruit set, leaving fewer and smaller berries per bunch, lower weight and higher fruit quality. The summer was very warm and dry, and in some zones ripening came early. After the cool spring the weather turned very hot and dry in January and February, and a heat wave in the first two weeks of February brought the highest temperatures the Mendoza region had seen in the last 50 years, according to Susana Balbo of Dominio del Plata. Grapes ripened so fast that vineyards with large crop loads did not fully develop their phenolics, while vineyards with lower yields were not as badly affected. Hail fell in the Santa Rosa, San Martin, Maipu, Lujan and San Rafael departments but did not notably affect expected production. The weather cooled significantly in March and April and the harvest came much later than expected, while a sunny, warm autumn let growers wait for full ripeness. Mendoza's grape crop reached 16,216,411 quintals, up 16.61% on 2002.

• Spring: cool, sunny and dry in Mendoza, with some frosts and days of Zonda wind that reduced fruit set
• Heat: a heat wave in the first two weeks of February brought the highest Mendoza temperatures in the last 50 years
• El Nino: it recurred in 2003 but was not as strong as expected, which Carlos Pulenta of Bodegas Salentein said avoided the formation of storms in February and March
• Harvest and crop: many producers held off picking Cabernet Sauvignon until mid-April; Mendoza's crop was 16,216,411 quintals, up 16.61% on 2002

Hail fell in the Mendoza departments of Santa Rosa, San Martin, Maipu, Lujan and San Rafael, without notable effect on the province's expected production. Nationally, the 2002/2003 crop was 23,014,806 quintals, up 2.5% on the year before, and scarce rain and high temperatures across the campaign prevented fungal disease. San Juan's crop fell 21.90% to 4,975,376 quintals after early frosts, a hot spring, Zonda wind at flowering, hail in Caucete and San Martin in December 2002, and January and February heat that dehydrated the berries. In the Northwest (Salta, Catamarca and La Rioja) the crop was 909,911 quintals, 22.78% below 2002, with Zonda wind at flowering and fruit set in Cafayate and Catamarca's Santa Maria Valley; the South (Neuquen and Rio Negro) harvested 111,426 quintals, down 1.84%.

Wine Spectator's James Molesworth wrote in May 2003 that the year brought uneven weather to Argentina but a potentially outstanding harvest, and that Malbec performed well. Santiago Achaval of Achaval-Ferrer told the magazine: "2003 looks to be an excellent vintage overall. Better than 2000 and 2001, but not as good as 2002." Decanter reported that many rated 2003 better than 2000 and 2001 though not as good as 2002, and that Malbec was reckoned to have done particularly well. The INV described Mendoza's reds as intensely colored, with powerful aromas of very ripe, jammy red fruit, very good body, complexity and soft, ripe tannins, and its whites as aromatic, fruity and balanced. At the national EVICO 2003 tasting, the INV recorded scores of 83.88 for whites and 85.47 for reds out of 100, with Pinot Noir standing out among the varietals, and judged 2003 very good, though unable to surpass the previous year in color.